Whilst installing a C.C.T.V. camera, (closed circuit television), a brother was amused with the thought: God has C.C.T.V. in my life! What he meant, of course, was that God sees everything. I may attempt to hide certain things from some people, but I cannot hide anything from God. God knows my every thought and the motive of my heart behind every one of my deeds.
No man-made C.C.T.V. camera can compare with the divine one described in Psalm 139:1-6:-
“O Lord you have searched me and known me. You know my down sitting and my uprising, you understand my thought afar off. You compass my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, you know it altogether. You have beset me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” (Read the remaining verses of the Psalm to encourage yourself.)
Jesus walked this earth as the sinless Son of God. When the devil came to tempt Him, he found no gateway in to his life to gain a foothold. Sin stains, but Jesus was sinless. He was so transparent because He always walked in truth, insomuch that “Truth” is one of His names. Jesus said to Thomas, His disciple, “….I am the way, the truth and the life: no man comes to the Father but by me,” John 14:6. Jesus was a true reflection of His Father because He always chose and preferred His Father’s will before His own. The disciple, Philip, requested Jesus to show them the Father. Jesus responded, “….he that has seen me has seen the Father”, John 14:9.
What is God after in me? His Holy Spirit, God’s divine C.C.T.V., directs His spot-light into my life. The dark places are exposed under His searching. As I humbly repent before Him, the finished work of Calvary cleanses, delivers, renews and restores my life. I am a new creation in Christ. Father God is looking to see His Son shine through me. When I stand by my own effort, in my own strength, self-righteousness, I fall, but when I stand in the risen Christ, the Son of God shines through me and His divine purpose is fulfilled. God is seeking not only to put an anointing “on” His sons, but “in” them. A revelation received has to be worked “in” my life to bring forth fruit to the Father’s glory. As I die to self, the Son of God will live in me – the Indwelling Christ manifests and shines in a surrendered life. God’s peace and joy are the hallmarks of His presence in me. They are my divine thermostat to register when I have stepped off His pathway for my life. As I walk in humility, take the blame, my divine Pathfinder, the Holy Spirit, will re-direct me to set me back on course again.
Hebrews 11 records the Old Testament patriarchs in the “Hall of Faith.” It appears every one of them had to work through their failure of faith in themselves, or lack of faith in God, before they came through with strong faith in God. God did not abandon them in their failure, nor recorded them in this chapter. He used their failure to teach them to rely on Him, bringing them through their trials to strong faith in Himself. So it is with us. Our Father is bringing many sons to glory that the fullness of His beloved Son is seen to shine through us, salt and light to a dark and needy world.
The world is tired of Christians who talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. Our lives are an open book, read of all men. Let me not take offence when I am left out, spoken against or unjustly treated. Let me not judge those who treat me ill, but do as Jesus did in such circumstances: He did not retaliate or react but committed Himself to His Father who judges righteously, (1 Peter 2:21-23). In the light of eternity, these offences are so insignificant, and yet they are “the little foxes that spoil the vine” and are stumbling blocks that I can turn into stepping stones in my walk with the Lord. I have a choice. The divine C.C.T.V. is watching me, encouraging me to walk humbly with my Lord.
I can deceive myself into thinking I love the Lord, yet fall out with my fellow man. God’s word challenges us, “If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?,” 1 John 4:20. In the spot-light of God’s word my heart is laid bare.
As I walk humbly each day with my Saviour, He will teach me His ways and bring me to the divine goal, the fullness of the Son living and dwelling comfortably in me as surrender becomes my lifestyle. Only then will I know the continuing joy of His presence where nothing said or done to me will harm or offend.
Psalm 119:165 “Great peace have they who love thy law AND NOTHING SHALL OFFEND THEM”. In the Hebrew, the capital letters I have put in are translated “they shall have no stumbling block.” This is a heart condition. As it is often said, “We have not arrived, but we have left”. Praise God! We are on the journey, we are not alone, our divine Guide is a constant comfort and companion. We have left many things, Egypt has nothing to offer us. As we continue, many other things will be left behind as we discover the real treasures of our divine destiny, to know more intimately the Lover of our souls.
Lord, may the light of Your presence continue to guide our path and fill our hearts. Amen.
